Shy Boy

Shy Boy is one of the world’s most beloved equine celebrities. He is known to millions of viewers of the BBC/PBS series and the New York Times best-selling book. His image has been emblazoned on T-shirts, and young girls squeal when they see him. He’s so popular that Breyer toys created a Shy Boy model horse for collectors! Quite an amazing life for this small (13.2 hands) horse that probably never thought he’d be anywhere but roaming the plains of Nevada, foraging for food.

Born and raised in the wild, Shy Boy first met Monty in 1997. A mustang horse rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management, Shy Boy was to be the focal point of a bold experiment: could Monty, the internationally-known “man who listens to horses,” achieve Join~Up® in the wild?

Roberts’s goal was to “start” Shy Boy (halter, bridle and saddle the horse and then get a rider on) without utilizing the usual round pen or any enclosed space. All Roberts would use was his ability to communicate in the horse’s own language.

After an odyssey that spanned three days and approximately one hundred miles, Shy Boy willingly chose to Join~Up® with Monty. In an unforgettable moment, the wild horse dropped his head and allowed Monty to gently touch his face. Later, Shy Boy accepted his first rider. The experience was documented in a BBC/PBS program Monty Roberts: The Real Horse Whisperer and shown on television throughout the world.

After Monty and Shy Boy’s successful Join~Up®, they both returned to Monty’s Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang, California. Shy Boy grew to love life on the farm.

Over the course of a year, Shy Boy soaked up the attention from delighted tourists and horse lovers who flocked to the farm to meet the legendary mustang, grew chubby eating nourishing grass and rolled around in the paddock.

Yet throughout Shy Boy’s year at the Farm, one question remained: would Shy Boy rather be free? It was a question that gnawed at Monty.

In 1998, Monty loaded Shy Boy back into a trailer with a heavy heart and drove back to the wild. The question that hung in everyone’s minds was: when allowed to choose, would Shy Boy return to his old herd or come back to Monty?

The result was captured on an emotional and stunningly beautiful video (Shy Boy: The Horse That Came in from the Wild), shot live as it happened. As the halter is removed, Shy Boy immediately canters off to join his former herd, who welcomes him warmly on the top of a hill. What happens the next day is a testament to the bond Monty had formed with Shy Boy and the power of Monty’s Join-Up® philosophy. It’s a story you will never forget.

Shy Boy resides at the farm once again, greeting fans and participating in various training classes at Monty’s Equestrian Academy. He also made his debut in the Tournament of Roses parade, televised to an estimated 10 million people, in 2002 and 2003.

And now a young adult book has been created called I’m Shy Boy: Here’s my story! Monty interpreted Shy Boy’s adventures growing up with his family group in the Nevada desert. Its for people 9 years old and older and its available only from this website and a few other shops globally. Shy Boy is not yet done with being famous!